March 22,18?4. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
217 
FANCY DAHLIAS. 
Position in Present 
Analysis. 
Average Number of 
Times Shown. 
No. of Times 
Shown in 1893 in 
True Relative Propor¬ 
tion to the Average. 
Name. 
Date of 
Introduction. 
Raiser’s 
or 
Introducer’s 
Name. 
Colour. 
1 
21-4 
14 
IMrs. Saunders . 
1872 
Turner . 
Yellow and white 
2 
21-0 
23 
Rev. J. B. M. Camm . 
1873 
Keynes . 
Yellow and red 
3 
20-0 
24 
Mrs. J. Downie. 
1889 
Turner . 
Orange and scarlet 
4 
18 0 
17 
Duchess of Albany . 
1884 
Turner . 
Orange and crimson 
5 
17-5 
20 
Matthew Campbell. 
1889 
Keynes . 
6 
16 3 
13 
Frank Pearce . 
1886 
Rawlings . 
Rose, striped crimson 
7 
111 
11 
Peacock . 
1877 
Turner . 
Maroon and white 
8 
10 2 
6 
Henry Eckford. 
1886 
Rawlings . 
Yellow and red 
9 
9-5 
7 
Gaietv . 
1879 
Keynes . 
10 
90 
6 
Mrs. N. Halls . 
1881 
Rawlings . 
Scarlet and white 
11 
84 
15 
Dorothy. 
1888 
Keynes . 
Fawn and maroon 
12 
8-3 
4 
Chorister . 
1881 
Keynes . 
Tt'awn anH orimRnn 
13 
80 
8 
Rebecca . 
1883 
Keynes . 
Lilac and crimson 
13 
8-0 
6 
T. W. Girdlestone. 
1890 
Keynes . 
Lilac and maroon 
14 
7-5 
12 
Buffalo Bill . 
1890 
Keynes . 
Buff, striped vermilion 
14 
7-5 
8 
Professor Fawcett. 
1881 
Keynes . 
Lilac and brown 
15 
7-2 
6 
Flora Wyatt . 
1871 
Keynes . 
Orange and red 
16 
7-1 
4 
George Barnes . 
1878 
Keynes . 
Lilac and crimson 
17 
6 7 
7 
Henry Glasscock . 
1875 
Keynes . 
Buff and crimson 
18 
6 6 
8 
Edmund Boston . 
1887 
K ey n ea . 
Orange and crimson 
19 
6-5 
9 
James O’Brien . 
1881 
Keynes . 
Yellow and crimson 
20 
6 0 
6 
Dandy. 
1891 
Keynes . 
Orange and crimson 
20 
60 
5 
Hugh Austin. 
1881 
Keynes . 
Orange and red 
21 
5-0 
5 
Comedian . 
1892 
Keynes . 
Orange and crimson 
21 
5 0 
0 
Mrs. Ocock . 
1892 
Rawlings . 
Yellow, crimson, and white 
MASTERING THE ONION MAGGOT. 
I AM very glad to note “ W. S. E.’s ” article on page 159, on the 
above subject, and hope to see it thoroughly discussed in the pages of 
the Journal of Horticulture. Having been very successful in battling 
with the Onion maggot until the past season, I offer a few remarks 
on my method of dealing with it. I consider it is very little use to 
put anything into the soil as a preventive of the maggot, seeing 
the fly deposits her eggs on the young Onion tops, and there the 
larvae are hatched, and from there they slip down to the base of 
the bulb, to begin their depredations on the plant. The method I 
have followed is to have the Onion seed sown as early in the spring as 
the soil will admit, and as soon as the young plants are well through 
the ground I give a slight dressing of nitrate of soda, about an 
ounce to the square yard, followed by a similar quantity about a 
month afterwards. As soon as the salt begins to work in the soil 
it puts new life into the young plants, and by the time the fly 
emerges from the pupa they are strong, and appear able to resist 
the attack. About the end of May, onwards until July or August, 
I dust the plants over with a small quantity of soot once or twice 
a week, occasionally substituting a dressing of basic slag, choosing 
a wet or dewy night for the operation. This I consider the fly 
distastes, and ic consequently acts as a preventive of egg deposition. 
I keep a sharp look out, and if any of the plants show signs of 
being attacked they are carefully dug up and burnt. 
I attribute my partial failure in not getting a full crop the past 
season to want of a little forethought with the manure applied the 
previous autumn. This manure consisted of ashes and refuse from 
the house, along with ordinary stable manure ; among the refuse from 
the house pieces of bad meat had been thrown out, and it very soon 
became a moving mass of maggots. This got mixed with the manure 
which was applied to the soil for the Onion crop, and from thence 
the flies emerged in full force the following summer. Whether I 
am right in supposing this, or whether it was a lack of energy in 
coping with it early enough, or owing to the dry season, I am 
unable to tell, but all our efforts to wholly check its ravages seemed 
to have little effect. I have followed the method above described for 
a number of years, and have always been successful in obtaining an 
abundant crop of sound bulbs, with the exception of the past 
season.—N. B. _ 
This subject, which “ W. S. E.”has brought to the front, is 
one which deserves the serious consideration of all gardeners, for 
it is deplorable to see ravages made in many a promising Onion 
bed by this insidious foe. Each year the wail goes up from 
sufferers in all parts of the country, but there are some districts in 
which many cultivators consider it impossible to keep this enemy 
at bay, for having tried every remedy they could think of them¬ 
selves, or hear of from others without satisfactory results, they 
become firmly convinced that there is neither preventive nor 
remedy, at least in their district, for such a deplorable state of 
affairs. 
I am not in the least inclined to take such a dismal view of the 
matter, although I am well aware that when once the maggots have 
bored into the stems of the young plants it is a most difficult matter 
to prevent the loss of a great part of the crop. I am also firmly 
convinced that by the aid of that grand fertiliser and purifier of 
the soil, “ soot,” the Onion maggot may be mastered, and therefore 
included in the category of vanquished if not banished foes. 
Some years ago I well remember Mr. H. W. Ward of Longford 
Castle Gardens having a lengthened and somewhat heated con¬ 
troversy with another writer on this subject, and how sturdily he 
stuck to his guns in asserting the efficiency of soot as a preventive 
of maggots. This he was thoroughly justified in doing, for during 
the six years that I acted as his foreman at Longford I neither saw 
a patchy Onion bed nor an Onion maggot in the gardens, and until I 
find soot fail to effect the desired result I shall stick to it as a 
sovereign remedy against a dreadful pest. 
When I took charge of the gardens here about three years ago 
I found the Onions badly infested with maggot, fully one-half of 
the plants being destroyed before they had grown to a sufficient 
size to be secure against further loss. Although I dusted the bed 
freely with soot I cannot say that it did much to arrest the ravages 
of the enemy, as the application was given too late to do that. When 
they have bored into the stems these maggots are so effectually 
protected that I think it almost impossible to kill them without 
destroying all the affected plants too. Profiting by the experience 
just recorded I determined to take extra trouble in prepaiing the 
soil the following season. I commenced by giving the ground a 
dressing of soot just before it was dug in the spring, at sowing time 
another heavy dressing was applied before the drills were diawn, 
the surface soil of the whole bed being completely covered so that 
it appeared as one black mass ; this was thoroughly incorporated 
with the soil by means of a rake. After the drills were drawn a 
layer of dry burnt refuse half an inch in thickness was placed along 
the drills. When the Onion tops were about 3 inches in length 
another slight dusting with soot was given during showery 
weather. By carrying out this simple treatment I had the satis- 
